Poor Max. He does all this work on his artistry after being blasted year after year, time after time for needing more "artistry"; he tries new things and pushes the artistic boundaries the way everyone was screaming for him to, and suddenly it's not good enough

That's because it isn't good enough. The results of his work on his artistry have been subpar, and he's being handled badly. Max's style is very powerful and explosive, which I like in theory, but his choreography is frankly terrible - not enough transitions, not enough attention paid to the music. It's very generic, which, coupled with the fact that he isn't nuanced enough to pull off anything that isn't a BIG, OBVIOUS emotion, makes for a boring watch. His spins and footwork are also mediocre and his edges are nothing to write home about. I watched his SP twice last night, once with the sound off (Icenetwork's doing) and once with the sound on, and compared to the top guys he's doing a lot worse. He needs to drill, drill, drill his stroking, he needs serious posture work, he needs to put the quads on the back burner and send serious time on spins and footwork and transitions. Otherwise he'll end up in positions like today, where a fall on a (rotated) quad puts him out of medal contention and fifteen points behind the leader and nearly ten points between a quadless Jason Brown.

Is he a hopeless case? Absolutely not. He has talent, but it's not being fostered properly.

That's because it isn't good enough. The results of his work on his artistry have been subpar, and he's being handled badly. Max's style is very powerful and explosive, which I like in theory, but his choreography is frankly terrible - not enough transitions, not enough attention paid to the music. It's very generic, which, coupled with the fact that he isn't nuanced enough to pull off anything that isn't a BIG, OBVIOUS emotion, makes for a boring watch. His spins and footwork are also mediocre and his edges are nothing to write home about. I watched his SP twice last night, once with the sound off (Icenetwork's doing) and once with the sound on, and compared to the top guys he's doing a lot worse. He needs to drill, drill, drill his stroking, he needs serious posture work, he needs to put the quads on the back burner and send serious time on spins and footwork and transitions. Otherwise he'll end up in positions like today, where a fall on a (rotated) quad puts him out of medal contention and fifteen points behind the leader and nearly ten points between a quadless Jason Brown.

Is he a hopeless case? Absolutely not. He has talent, but it's not being fostered properly.

Right on ghislaine. 100% correct. He lost a lot of points on his spins, which are frankly, terrible. I do enjoy his speed and jumping ability, but there is more to this sport than jumping, as proven by the current standings. He needs to go back and work on basics, and Tom Z is not the coach for it I'm afraid.

Max has the same sp music of Daisuke's past sp and thats a mistake from start, on the other hand I almost didnt recognise Rippon, he grew up so much and he gained so much more speed I was really impressed. Also Sotnikova could use his music for her sp instead of what she chose.
I though I would see a mess of Kozuka, but I really think this program is great, i always like he doesnt chose warhorses and easy stuff and I have really missed him. About Machida, i dont know what to think, he skates like this and then he comes sth like 9th at japan nationals!And then Daisuke is out and you forget the rest, this program is genius, is it choreographed by Miyamoto? I think none carries himself on ice like Daisuke does.

Max has the same sp music of Daisuke's past sp and thats a mistake from start, on the other hand I almost didnt recognise Rippon, he grew up so much and he gained so much more speed I was really impressed. Also Sotnikova could use his music for her sp instead of what she chose.
I though I would see a mess of Kozuka, but I really think this program is great, i always like he doesnt chose warhorses and easy stuff and I have really missed him. About Machida, i dont know what to think, he skates like this and then he comes sth like 9th at japan nationals!And then Daisuke is out and you forget the rest, this program is genius, is it choreographed by Miyamoto? I think none carries himself on ice like Daisuke does.

So often we hear a sub par performance excused on the grounds that it is the first competition of the season or early in the season. There is no way anyone can know for sure that this is the cause of the bad performance. It could be any of a number of other things. Even the skater himself may not know, so how in the world can a viewer know.

Max has the same sp music of Daisuke's past sp and thats a mistake from start, on the other hand I almost didnt recognise Rippon, he grew up so much and he gained so much more speed I was really impressed. Also Sotnikova could use his music for her sp instead of what she chose.
I though I would see a mess of Kozuka, but I really think this program is great, i always like he doesnt chose warhorses and easy stuff and I have really missed him. About Machida, i dont know what to think, he skates like this and then he comes sth like 9th at japan nationals!And then Daisuke is out and you forget the rest, this program is genius, is it choreographed by Miyamoto? I think none carries himself on ice like Daisuke does.

I'm with you, Seniorita. When Takahashi skates, I can't take my eyes off him. This is why he's such a favorite of mine. Normally I'd be completely rooting for Chan, because I'd love to see a Canadian man get gold at the Olympics, and he has so many great traits. But I can't put anyone ahead of Takahashi and haven't been able to since about 2006.